| 12 | 13 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1 |
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| 13 | 14 | | AN ACT TO CONTINUE FUNDING FOR CHILD CARE STABILIZATION GRANTS. 2 |
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| 14 | 15 | | Whereas, accessible child care is essential for the continued growth of North 3 |
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| 15 | 16 | | Carolina's economy; and 4 |
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| 16 | 17 | | Whereas, there is bipartisan consensus that child care must be a focus of the 5 |
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| 17 | 18 | | 2025-2027 legislative biennium; and 6 |
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| 18 | 19 | | Whereas, one in five employers cite child care issues as a barrier to hiring; and 7 |
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| 19 | 20 | | Whereas, the cost of operating a child care facility continues to rise even as parents' 8 |
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| 20 | 21 | | ability to afford it declines; and 9 |
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| 21 | 22 | | Whereas, child care providers and the families they serve have not recovered from 10 |
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| 22 | 23 | | the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic; and 11 |
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| 23 | 24 | | Whereas, the failure to continue to provide for child care stabilization grants will lead 12 |
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| 24 | 25 | | to the closure of an estimated 20% of all child care facilities in our State within the next year; 13 |
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| 25 | 26 | | and 14 |
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| 26 | 27 | | Whereas, we affirm that State investment in our child care providers is an investment 15 |
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| 27 | 28 | | in the economic development of current and future generations; Now, therefore, 16 |
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| 28 | 29 | | The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 17 |
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| 29 | 30 | | SECTION 1. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of 18 |
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| 30 | 31 | | Health and Human Services, Division of Child Development and Early Education (Division), the 19 |
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| 31 | 32 | | sum of fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) in nonrecurring funds for the 2024-2025 fiscal year to 20 |
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| 32 | 33 | | continue the compensation grants portion of the child care stabilization grants. The Division shall 21 |
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| 33 | 34 | | continue the compensation grants portion of the child care stabilization grants through the fourth 22 |
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| 34 | 35 | | quarter at the current 2024-2025 fiscal year level. 23 |
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| 35 | 36 | | SECTION 2. This act is effective when it becomes law. 24 |
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